Family life in the 21st century brings many challenges and opportunities, which if you think about too deeply could drive you bonkers. With a mix of technological delights and modern dilemmas, this blog offers one woman's perspective on life from the edge of a beautiful market town in Suffolk.

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Sunday, April 06, 2008

Erm....not me! However, when I looked around the showhome, it was very tempting to drag 21st C Dad along and show him the space...

yes the space....

The four double bedrooms, the kitchen diner AND the office, not to mention the double garage.

I could just see it .... an idyllic lifestyle was sitting there waiting for us, just waiting for the whole family to move in.

Then I woke up to the reality!

When we first moved to Bury St Edmunds nearly 5 years ago, I decided to give up full-time work so that I could bring up the family and have a go at downshifting, getting out of the rat-race and greening up.

Instead of the 9-5 or indeed a regular 10-2 arrangement in the world of traditional work, I have been able to spend time with the children and discover new things along the way, indulging in a new lifestyle that has enabled me to have a "pocket-money" business, develop my writing skills as well as volunteer as a school governor.

Admittedly, my earnings remain well within my personal allowance, so I don't need to pay any tax and I am lucky that this is balanced by the fact that 21st C Dad earns enough to keep us in the lifestyle that we have become used to. Indeed, he earns enough for us to move to this lovely new house, with all that lovely new space.

So why don't we?

Apart from the financial insecurities that lie ahead in this current economic climate, I know that if we made that move, I would need to go back to the office and get a "proper job", to act as a buffer zone and allow us to still pay for family holidays and some of the other things that we enjoy.

Besides, I woke up to the fact that this very large house comes with a tiny garden....and indeed, it's not the space inside that I hanker after, it's the space on the outside, with a garden in which I could get lost, grow our own vegetables and enable the children to enjoy their wonderful array of adventures.

If we bought this house, It would delay our real dream by at least five years.

So, I think it's worth staying in the slow lane for a while longer!

And if you agree with me and indeed want to have a think about it yourself, I can recommend that you visit my mate Tracey Smith's fantastic website. This is a woman who has gone the extra mile in downshifting and has even set up the International Downshifting Week awareness campaign, which this year starts on the 19th April.

So, if you've got 10 minutes, pop over and have a look at how you can take part: www.downshiftingweek.com. And if you fancy having a go, there are lots of ideas and some fabulous inspiration to get you started.

4 Comments:

That house looks fab, but I definitely think hold onto the dream. And I'll be reading more on Tracey's site. She's very right in that the more dosh you spend the more time you have to spend earning it. Brill.